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The Concept Time Value of Money

by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFAI came across an interesting article in the newspaper this morning. Did you know that in many Muslim countries, it is illegal to charge interest when lending someone money? This got me thinking about the concept time value of money – in a...

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How Much Is Your Time Worth?

by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFAA friend of mine, who is a lawyer, left work early today to clean her house before her in-laws were coming into town. With her earnings in excess of $350 per hour, I frowned and asked why she didn’t simply hire a cleaning service. No, she...

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The Gas Issue

by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFAI paid over four dollars per gallon at the pump today! While this may not impress Europeans, who have paid such prices for ages, the cost of oil certainly isn’t helping the US economy right now. Herds of people are making the switch from...

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Tony Robbins for Your Money

by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFAOne of my friends has grown to be such a Tony Robbins fan, she now quotes him daily. I went over to her house last night, to watch one of his videos and find out for myself what the fuss was all about.I liked it. Even more so, I liked that...

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Spring Cleanout of Your Finances

by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFAMy husband, son and I are getting ready to move to a larger apartment. I did a much belated, and much needed, spring cleanout of my closet this weekend to start getting ready. It got me thinking that while most of us do some sort of spring...

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The Commuting Issue

by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFAThis morning, I was stuck in my apartment elevator for 30 minutes. I spent this time, of course, thinking about commuting and happy that my commute is normally only 10 minutes and involves no cars, buses, trains or subways. I moved my...

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Inflation Risk

by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFAAs my job is to help people make their financial dreams come true, of course I subscribe to a myriad of newsletters on the topic. While most of them tend to feel like same-old-same-old, this morning, I came across an interesting article...

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Feng Shui and Money

by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFAA friend of mine had a Feng Shui expert look over her house this weekend. She invited me to come over and watch. Tons can be done to attract wealth into your life, she told me. While I found the in-depth Feng Shui so complex and complicated...

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How Much Shopping Is Too Much?

by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFAFlipping through the latest In Style last night, I realized how easy it is to feel that the price tags for the things magazine editors like to tell us we absolutely must have are out of line with our earnings. The consensus among those in...

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Achieve financial independence

by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFAMy brother and I had a long talk about financial independence last night, over the most delicious Crème Brûlée. I realized how much the two have in common! Both the dessert and the concept are things everybody craves – yet very few have a...

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The right time to retire

by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFAWhen should I retire? a woman called me up to ask today. I found it charming; quaint, even, to make such a complex question sound so simple. If only it were so simple that I could just have spouted out age 65 or 55. Would not it be...

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Renting vs. owning your home

by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFAMy cousin had his house appraised today, and he was not happy. Of course, he’s far from the only one feeling this way. With the US real estate markets free falling like rocks dumped from skyscrapers, an increasing number of people are...

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Create and preserve wealth

by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFAThe one question I’m asked the most – three times today, for example – is: how do I create wealth? And once I have it, how do I hold on to it and make sure I never, ever lose it?Well. Wealth is – in essence – the difference between your...

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Ease money record-keeping burdens

by Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFAMy assistant burst into my office this morning, wild-eyed. Had I seen the $200 she had in the pocket of her trench coat three days ago? Nope. She decided to dig through her purse – oversize albeit exploding with receipts – yet another time....

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